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Nationality? We’re all British now

July 7 2012, 1:01am, The Times

Leroy Willis with Joseph and LilyTimes photographer, Paul Rogers

The British are not naturals when it comes to celebrating their achievements. And yet, with the bunting still fresh from the Diamond Jubilee, the journey of the Olympic torch around the country is the second great instalment in our nation’s chance to get to know itself a little better, come rain or shine (but mainly rain).

On my whistlestop tour of the market towns and cobbled villages of the Midlands, East Anglia and Essex, I discovered a sense of brimming civic pride and patriotism in welcoming an international carnival to pockets of Britain as yet unvisited by global events, national attention or sporting fervour. And it comes in many forms and in many colours.

People I spoke to laughed at the notion, announced by the…

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